Vice Provost Saskia Hamilton and Dean of Academic Planning and Class Advising Holly Tedder notified students of extensions to Barnard’s withdrawal and Pass/D/Fail grading option deadlines today in an email.

In an email to Barnard students today, Vice Provost Saskia Hamilton announced an extension of the deadlines to withdraw from a Fall 2021 course and to elect to Pass/D/Fail for Fall 2021 courses.

The withdrawal deadline for Fall 2021, which was originally November 18, will be extended to December 6, and the deadline to declare the P/D/F option—which also was originally November 18—will be extended to the last day of classes for the semester, December 13. For further information on electing to P/D/F or withdrawing from a course, students can reference the Registrar’s website. 

Vice Provost Hamilton cited the unusual “stresses of the semester” as the cause for the deadlines’ extension, even with the return to campus and the transition back to an in-person college experience. Columbia College has not yet announced withdrawal and P/D/F extensions for its students, whose withdrawal and Pass/D/Fail election deadlines were also November 18.

The email can be found in its entirety below.

Update on Monday, December 6:

Provost Linda A. Bell and Dean Leslie Grinage updated Barnard students via email that they are now allowed to elect Pass/D/Fail for one course required for their major, not including senior capstone courses. They noted that this exception will only be made for courses taken in Fall 2021 and that the deadline for electing Pass/D/Fail for any course is December 13, 2021; the deadline for uncovering a letter grade for any Fall 2021 course is January 28, 2022. This update comes after CC and GS announced similar modified policies for their respective students.

They also encouraged students considering any decisions regarding Pass/D/Fail for courses to meet with their academic advisers and department chairs prior to making any changes.

Email from Vice Provost Hamilton to Barnard students on November 23 at 3 pm:

Dear Students,

We are writing to you with an update about withdrawing from or electing P/D/F for Fall 2021 courses. Despite the return to campus and the resumption of many aspects of regular academic and college life, we recognize the stresses of this semester, which continue to be unusual. With that in mind, we are extending the deadline to withdraw from a Fall 2021 course until December 6, 2021, and to elect P/D/F for Fall 2021 courses until the last day of classes (Monday, December 13, 2021).

The policies and procedures for electing a P/D/F or to withdraw from a course are delineated on the Registrar’s website.

We hope you have a good end to the semester and a restful winter break.

Sincerely yours,

Saskia Hamilton

Vice Provost for Academic Programs

Holly Tedder

Dean of Academic Planning and Class Advising

Email from Provost Bell and Dean Grinage to Barnard students on December 6 at 8:09 pm:

Dear Students,

In recognition of the difficulties our community has endured this semester, we write to share an update to the College’s P/D/F policy for this semester.

The College is  instituting an exception to our existing P/D/F policy for Fall 2021 only, allowing students to P/D/F one course in their major, with the single exception of senior capstone courses. The P/D/F elected course will count towards major requirements if a passing grade is received. Students will have until the last day of class (December 13, 2021) to choose this P/D/F option and will have until the end of the second week of spring semester (January 28, 2022) to choose whether or not to uncover the grade in this class.  

We will strongly encourage those of you who are considering a P/D/F election in your major to consult with your advisers and/or the department chair before doing so, in order to understand the potential impact on your course of study and cumulative learning in your field.

We wish you all the best with your studies at the close of the semester.

Sincerely,

Linda A. Bell

Provost and Dean of the Faculty

Leslie Grinage

Dean of the College

Update made on Monday, December 6 at 9 pm: This article has been updated to reflect the new academic policy regarding Pass/D/Fail as announced by the Barnard administration.

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